mimi moncier

Urban Autism is an ongoing exploration of how the city, in its physical manifestation, can turn away from those who dwell within it.

Look at any city and you will find chain link fences, properties neglected by their owners and publicly owned but vacant properties turning their fac(es)ades away from pedestrians and contributing to complacency that encourages littering and lack of pride for the built environment.

Seeking a tandom expression, I turned to dance and none other than Trio A by Yvonne Rainer. In this seminal post-modern dance in a sort of anti-social autistic move (my reading of it but not her intention), Rainer turns the gaze away from the audience at every turn and leaves virtuosity and seduction of the audience behind. I learned the piece from Linda Johnston (one of Rainer’s four repetiteurs of the piece), I performed the piece in front of an abandoned gas station site in Potrero Hill, and subsequently did a studio performance and a performance at BAM with Linda other dancers.

The project continues….